SACO — Eight different Thornton players scored, including all five starters, as the Trojans got back on the winning track with a 68-51 victory over Noble in an SMAA boys basketball game at Linnell Gymnasium on Friday night.

Thornton sandwiched a two-game winning streak with a pair of two-game losing streaks in its first six games, but against the Knights, it was much more good than bad. After Brady Dodge scored the first basket of the game for Noble, the Trojans went on a 9-2 run.

The Knights never got within three points after that, as Thornton shared the ball on offense and out-rebounded Noble on the defensive end.

“We came out strong. We came out playing harder than them, I think,” said Thornton senior Evan Wright. “We worked as a team, and we just got good shots, and did a good job overall.”

Quinn Richardson-Newton capped off a seven-point first quarter with a jumper with five seconds left to give the Trojans a 14-8 lead.

That lead hit double digits for the first time at 18-8 2:45 into the second quarter, and by the 3:30 mark, all five Thornton starters had made a basket, with Wright completing the quintet of scorers.

“They’re really trusting each other, and that’s a big key,” said Thornton head coach Bob Davies. “When you got a group of kids that trust each other, that turns into a fun game to watch, and a fun game to coach.”

Wright made back-to-back transition lay-ups to put Thornton up 26-12 with 2:24 to play in the half.

The lead shrunk by a point at halftime as Noble’s Sean Jackson made an elbow jumper with 25 seconds to play, which was the Knights’ first and only field goal of the quarter.

The Trojans led 28-15 at intermission, with Richardson-Newton’s five field goals topping the four that the entire Knights team made.

“Playing good team defense, we held them to (51) points,” said Wright. “We closed out on shooters. They’re a good shooting team, and we just closed out on them, and did a good job.”

There was no let up out of the break for Thornton, as Richardson-Newton made a lay-up six seconds in, and Kevin Barrett followed it up with a transition lay-up of his own the next time down the floor.

The Noble offense woke up in the second half, however, as the Knights made six baskets in the third quarter. Jackson hit a pull-up 3-pointer with 15 seconds to play in the third to cut the deficit to 41-31.

Wright pushed the margin too far for the Knights to come back from early in the fourth, as he hit back-to-back 3-pointers just over a minute into the quarter to make it 47-31. The Knights never got the deficit under 11 points after that, and began to lose their cool, as both head coach Michael Waterman and senior captain Grayson Waterman received technicals. The player’s technical came after Waterman was called for his fifth foul ”“ all in the second half ”“ and all but sealed the victory for the Trojans, who were able to stay composed in the final minutes.

“If you lose your head, you can let up a big run, change the tempo of the game,” said Wright. “Luckily we kept our heads, and that didn’t happen.”

Richardson-Newton scored a game-high 28 points, and Wright and Barrett also hit double digits, with 13 and 12, respectively.

“That’s what he’s got to do; he’s got to put the ball in the basket for us,” Davies said of Richardson-Newton. “In order for him to do it, though, his teammates got to get the right passing angles and get him the rock, and they did that tonight. Quinn scored the points; the other guys had a lot to do with it.”

Dodge led the Knights with 17 points, nine of which came on three 3-pointers in the fourth. Waterman scored 16 before fouling out.

The Trojans have a quick turnaround, as they host Cheverus today at 3 p.m.

“We’re improving as a team. We hustled, and we worked hard the whole entire game, and we executed,” said Davies. “Hopefully we can continue it. We want to continue it, and we want to work as hard as we possibly can. We’re going to keep trying to maintain this focus.”

— Staff Writer Wil Kramlich can be contacted at 282-1535, ext. 323 or sports@journaltribune.com. Follow him on Twitter @WilTalkSports.